UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
Pope Francis’ key theologian, Cardinal Walter Kasper, and former Irish president, Mary McAleese, recently captured best Pope Francis’ “all celibate male” approach to discussing and responding to questions about women and children. “ABSURD” said Cardinal Kasper, and “BONKERS” said canon lawyer McAleese. Notwithstanding these obvious and accurate reactions, the Vatican continues its latest “Fortnight For Servitude” — servitude for women that is. Are Vatican men mad about women and children?
In little over two weeks, a fortnight, Pope Francis has in effect warned, millions personally in the overpopulated Philippines and tens of millions worldwide on TV, about his continuing the disastrous papal contraception ban that has through Church political lobbying denied millions of women in the Philippines, Africa, Latin America and even the USA a real choice about effective contraception.
The pope has now made his initial 48 all celibate male appointments to his Final Synod on the Family in several months. And astonishingly Francis’ Pontifical Council for Culture, in effect, made up of celibate Cardinals and Bishops, are now discussing “Women’s Cultures: Equality and Difference”, including opposing plastic surgery while overlooking contraception.
A UK woman theologian has wisely observed about the Council’s prospects: “Neither women nor men exercise competence in the Church because of some mysterious, gender-related genius, but because they are baptised. If that recognition can be the starting point, this time we might get somewhere.” Please see, “Pontifical council to consider challenges women face in society, church“, here,
Please also see the Council’s outline document, here, “Women’s Cultures: Equality and Difference,” and my related remarks here (1) “Pope’s Fix For Street Child Woes: More Babies ?“, at,
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